COMMERCE COMMISSION 

LIBRARY. 

AUG 21 1899 



In 







goi 



Commercial 
Technical Education 



v 

AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY 



CHARLES A. COLTON, E. M. 



DIRECTOR OF THE 
NEWARK TECHNICAL SCHOOL, 



BY REQUEST OF THE BOARD OF TRADE, 



NOVEMBER 10, 1897. 



By Tr»»«l« r 

AUG 2B M7 



ESTATE 

COMMERCE COMMISSION 

LIBRARY. 
AUG 21 1899 



Commercial 
Technical Education. 



AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY 



CHARLES A. COLTON, E. M, 



DIRECTOR OF THE 
NEWARK TECHNICAL SCHOOL, 



BY REQUEST OF THE BOARD OF TRADE, 



NOVEMBER 10, 1897. 



G/ 6 



Commercial Technical Education. 



If in 1865 a person had raised the question as to England's 
ability to maintain industrial leadership among the nations, his 
doubt would have been considered as pessimistic to say the least, 
if his sanity had not been called in question. Yet no one can 
read the discussions carried on in the current periodicals in 
reference to the continental competition in England, without 
realization that the other European Powers have made advances 
and that this competition has become so serious as to cause 
alarm. Germany seems to be the greatest rival of England in 
this respect and the result of the discussion seems to be, that 
the cause of Germany's rapid strides is due to technical and 
industrial education. In England considerable attention has 
been devoted to art and its applications, the results being 
shown in improvement in the finish of textile fabrics, and the 
excellence of ceramics. Science instruction however, did not 
receive the same impetus, and in the meantime Germany had 
by government aid followed up pure science with great zeal, 
and every new discovery in the laboratory has immediately been 
tested for its practical application. The consequence is that 
not only in England but in Newark, we see many of our 
purchases stamped with the tell-tale mark "Made in Germany." 

Quite a sensation has been created in England by the publi- 
cation of a little book having for its title this trade mark. The 
substance of the book is, that the idea that Englishmen still 
monopolize the trade of the world is a delusion, and that 
Germany is not only beating England in foreign markets, but in 
the home market also; as is evidenced by the flooding of the 
latter with goods bearing the mark "Made in Germany." 

The success is attributed first, to the educational system, and 
second to the superiority of her consular system. Bearing on 
the first question I quote from "Shaw's Municipal Government." 



"The German cities have been trying to make their school 
systems fit the necessities of their population. Having amply 
provided for elementary and higher education, they have in 
addition shown a preference for schools which will furnish 
Germany with an abundant supply of men of special and 
technical training. 

Manufacturing cities like Chemnitz, promote the development 
of their principal industries by providing trade schools which 
are adapted in their courses to the industrial character of the 
city and vicinity. " 

In a recent address delivered before the Birmingham, England, 
Technical School, the speaker referred to the growth of the 
color trade in Germany. That industry was really an English 
discovery, but it has been exploited by the Germans to such a 
degree that they virtually control the trade. One of Bismarck's 
best aphorisms was, ' 'The nation that has the best schools has 
the future." 

Difference between General Education and 
Technical Education. 

The distinction between general and technical education even 
at the present time is not clearly understood. In the former, 
the scholar learns how to acquire knowledge ; in the latter, how 
to apply it to practical use. The difference is not so much in 
the subject taught, as in the method and object of the course of 
study. If Spanish is taught with the idea that the student can 
be enabled to carry on business in Spanish countries, it is a 
subject of technical instruction. If the idea is to enable the 
student to read and appreciate Spanish literature, that is general 
education. 

Technical education should not supplant general education, 
but supplement it. There seems to be a mistaken idea on the 
part of some persons as to the proper place in life of technical 
education; many advocating the use of the years of child- 
hood which should be devoted to general education. In many 
instances, this beginning at the wrong end, for so it seems to 
me, is prompted from pecuniary motives ; the fact that the man 
or woman should be trained before the artisan being forgotten. 
The aim of general education should be the good of the country 
and the elevation of the social condition of the people. The 



aim of technical education should be improvement in workman- 
ship and the advancement of the different industries. 

The instruction in the technical school may not in every 
instance be of direct benefit in each student's occupation, though 
indirectly it has been found to be so in most cases. 

If Germany, Switzerland, France and England find technical 
education so valuable, is it not reasonable to suppose that the 
American with his intelligence, adaptability and inventive 
genius will find vast benefits accruing from its establishment 
on a more thorough basis than has been attempted? 

Recent Advances in Technical Education. 

In Switzerland there are trade schools for every industry and 
and often for different branches of the same industry. At St. 
Gall is one of the best lace schools in the world. These schools 
are supported by the State ; scholarships being given to deserv- 
ing students. 

The Birmingham, England, Technical School endeavors to 
provide instruction of practical value for the trades on broad 
lines, to all sections of the community. It does not undertake 
to teach the practice of trades in its class rooms, but the 
scientific principles on which the industries are based. It is 
supported by State and municipal aid, and to such an extent 
that while a fee is attached to all courses it is extremely small. 
This institution is probably the most pretentious of its kind in 
Great Britain ; scholarships and prizes are offered by individuals 
and associations. 

At Manchester, England, a school for Commercial Technical 
Education is about completed. A report from the committee 
sent to Germany and Austria to visit technical schools has 
come to hand and a resume of it is well worth attention. 

The substance of the report contained in "Engineering" is as 
follows: In Germany the schools are instituted mainly for 
advanced work, the day students being comparatively few in 
number. 

At Crefeld, the large dyeing and finishing school is intended 
to accommodate but forty-five day students. For their instruc- 
tion there is a staff consisting of a director, three assistant 
lecturers, a special chemist for dyeing, and masters for dyeing 
and finishing." 



" In Germany the committee report that the course of study 
is extraordinarily thorough; students often remaining at the 
school five or six years. The equipment is so complete that in 
those schools relating to the textile trades, the work is done on 
a commercial scale." 

"At Aix la Chapelle, the technical school is devoted to 
worsted and woolen spinning and weaving. There are but 
sixty students." 

"In Darmstadt, a city of but 57,000 inhabitants, there is a 
Technical High School which has been erected at a cost of 
$650,000." 

In all the cities visited by the members of the committee, they 
report large expenditures for buildings, equipments and sala- 
ries in the interest of technical education for commercial piir- 
poses, and they returned to Manchester firmly convinced that 
what seemed an extravagant outlay, will fall far short of the 
splendid equipment of the foreign schools. 

Turning to our own country, it will be seen that these exam- 
ples of providing the more extensive development of old indus- 
tries as well as the introduction of new, by the education of 
persons for the business to be followed, have not gone unheeded 
by us, and without assuming to ourselves the ability to control 
trade solely by reason of our great resources as a nation, the 
solution of the problem has already been undertaken by the 
establishment in different parts of the country of schools for 
industrial education. 

Beginning with the East, we may notice first, the Industrial 
Institute at Springfield, Massachusetts. This is almost exclu- 
sively a trade school. New England being largely devoted to 
manufacturing, there is always a demand for skilled workmen, 
and it is to supply this demand that gives the Industrial Insti- 
tute its field. This school has diverged more widely from the 
course of other schools following in the same line of work, by 
making the work on which the students are employed in learn- 
a trade, commercial, the products being sold, or the work 
being done to order in open competition with shops in the same 
line of business. It is a day school, charging $100 per year for 
tuition. It is a private corporation, receives no State or 
municipal aid, and the experiment is being tried of making 
the receipts from tuition, sale of articles and work done to 



order, pay for the cost of tuition. It owns a large piece of land 
on which are two brick buildings, one of which is rented with 
power to an electrical company which adds to its income. It is 
operated as a business enterprise and its graduates are said to be 
in good demand. The courses of instruction embrace Kinder- 
garten work, elementary engineering and normal instruction, 
and the following trades : machinist, pattern-making, printing, 
plumbing, blacksmithing. brick-laying, plastering, carpentry 
and joinery. An opportunity is given the student to learn the 
trade he may choose in all its branches. 

The Rhode Island School of Design, at Providence, R. I., 
provides instruction to artisans in drawing, painting, modeling 
and designing, that the principles of art may be applied to the 
requirements of trade and manufacture. It has a large art 
gallery, owns some works of art and has loan exhibitions from 
time to time. The art gallery is open free to the public. 
Instruction is given both day and evening, and a tuition fee is 
charged. It is supported mainly by private subscriptions, the 
City and State contributing but a small amount. The manu- 
facturers of Rhode Island find it difficult to obtain designers 
trained in this country, and this school is expected to supply 
the demand. It is well equipped for the work, and seems to 
be well supported. 

The Philadelphia Textile School at the present time repre- 
sents the most important effort made in America to teach art 
in direct application to the actual needs of an industry. The 
course of study is the result of fifteen years experience, and 
includes instruction in the manufacture of cotton, woolen and 
silk fabrics. It covers three years of work in fabric structure, 
fabric analysis and calculations, color harmony and principles 
of figured design, mechanical drawing, chemistry of dyeing, 
carding, spinning and weaving. The management of the school 
maintains that industrial designers cannot be trained apart 
from the industries themselves. Philadelphia having a large 
textile industry, it is just the place to locate a textile school. 

Most of the students have had one or two years' experience 
in working in the mills. The fees vary from $10 to $150 for a 
year's tuition. 

The textile manufacturers of Lowell and vicinity having 
awakened to the fact that something must be done to improve 



the finer grade of their products, and the processes concerned 
in their manufacture, proposed in 1891 to establish a textile 
school. The success of the Philadelphia Textile School con- 
firmed the decision of the Lowell gentlemen, that American 
conditions favored the establishment of such a school. Foreign 
schools of this kind were carefully studied and on February 
1st, 1897, the Lowell Textile School was opened to students. 

To start the school, the city gave $25,000 and the manufac- 
turing companies of the city gave $50,000. It receives city 
and state aid, and charges a tuition fee of $100 per year for 
day students. 

The school is equipped with machinery to the value of 
$50,000 of the highest grade used in textile mills, some of it 
being specially built for experimental work. It is thoroughly 
practical in its character and is a trade school in every sense of 
the term. It is designed to give instruction in the textile 
industries, in science and art as applied to these industries, 
and in the processes and methods for the purpose of improving 
any special trade, or of introducing new branches of industry. 
To afford mill operatives an opportunity to perfect themselves 
in the branches in which they work, evening classes giving a 
technical education are to be organized. 

Free popular lectures on the textile industries are to be given 
at stated intervals throughout the year. In addition to these, 
courses of five to ten lectures are to be organized on special 
subjects connected with the textile industries. 

A textile school has been talked of in Providence, Rhode 
Island, one gentleman offering to give $20,000 for its establish- 
ment, stating that the foundation of his fortune was laid in the 
textile schools of England. 

It is announced that the Trustees of the Augusta, Ga. , free 
school are considering the advisability of equipping a school 
for instruction in textile manufacture, the manipulation of tex- 
tile machinery, and the making of designs for carpets and prints. 

The Cincinnati Technical School is a private corporation, or- 
ganized to give instruction and practice in the use of tools, 
mechanical and free-hand drawing, mathematics, English 
language, and the natural sciences ; to develop skill in handi- 
craft, and to impart such a knowledge of essential mechanical 
principles as will facilitate progress in the acquirements of 



manual trades. The charges for tuition vary from $50 to 
$125 per year. 

The Armour Institute of Chicago, 111., founded by the 
munificence of P. D. Armour, is a manual training and trade 
school. 

The last school of this kind to open its doors in Chicago is 
the Lewis Institute, which is designed to give an advanced 
High School course, and a partial collegiate course with man- 
ual training, having an endowment of $1,600,000, it certainly 
ought to be able to do excellent work with moderate charges 
to the students. 

The buildings cost $230,000 without furnishing or equipment. 
All students pay tuition fees, and there are day and evening 
classes. 

A special department of household science for women is a 
feature of the institute, in which instruction is given in cook- 
ing and food study, food analysis, and the application to house- 
hold affairs of the principles of physics, chemistry and biology. 

The most pretentious undertaking in the line of industrial 
education is Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. Its object is "to pro- 
mote manual and industrial education as well as cultivation in 
literature, science and art ; to inculcate habits of industry and 
thrift, and to foster all that makes for right living and good 
citizenship." 

The work of the Institute is carried on along the following 
lines, viz. : Educational, normal, technical and special. Its 
equipment is of the best. It has day and evening classes ; the 
charges for tuition being very moderate. The income from 
tuition fees does not pay one-third of running the school. It 
has an endowment of $3,500,000, and is able to offer advan- 
tages in its lines of work which no other institution in this 
country has yet surpassed, and has furnished instructors for 
schools all over the land. 

It is an excellent example of what can be done through pri- 
vate benefactions; the management of the trust having been 
very judiciously administered by the children of the founder. 

Modeled after it are Drexel Institute, of Philadelphia, and 
Armour Institute, of Chicago. 

We are all hoping for and expecting the opening of an indus- 
trial era which shall put us as a nation in the van of others, and 



our great desire is to obtain and hold the monopoly of the home 
market. To do this the people should be offered the best goods for 
their money. We are not indifferent to foreign trade, but very 
much desire to obtain it, as has been indicated in several ways re- 
cently. It is possible that by a tariff we may be able to keep 
German goods out of our own market, but to sell to our 
neighbors in South America, we must send them what they 
want and a superior article. With regard to our own market it 
makes very little difference how high the tariff is put on some 
goods, the importation of the products of foreigh skill and taste 
cannot be shut out by any such device. There is but one way 
to prevent it and that is to have our own trained workmen for 
the highest branches of an industry, and the United States can 
very well profit by the example of Germany, and establish and 
improve her technical schools and also her consular service. 

An intelligent Frenchman is stated to have made this claim : 
"The best instructed industry is at present the strongest." 
There is no doubt but that Germany is intensely in love with 
industrialism. Newark is an active centre of an industrial area 
which includes Union, Hudson and Passaic counties as well as 
Essex. With the trolley facilities now provided and to be 
extended, there is not a question of doubt but that the Techni- 
cal School of Newark will receive a large number of students 
from all the places which are so easy of access. There are now 
in attendance three students from Passaic, one from Nutley, 
two from Bloomfield, one from Orange, one from Irvington, 
one from Elizabeth, one from Roselle, and one from Kearny. 

In addition to these, students are in attendance who are 
employed by the Singer Manufacturing Company, at Elizabeth- 
port, but reside in Newark. 

To provide the training in the industries represented in this 
area will require money. It should not be a question of what is 
to be done in the way of economy, for economy is often as 
unwise as extravagance, but what shall be done in the way 
of education. 

If the city and state are to retain their high place in the 
industrial world, skilled education must be provided for. There 
was a time when the scientifically educated man was not 
wanted in practical life, but all that is changed, and industrial 
establishments are seeking just that kind of talent and it is 



quite the custom to ask of an applicant for a position, what has 
been his school training-. Certain schools have acquired such 
an enviable reputation by reason of the achievements of their 
graduates, that a diploma from them is a satisfactory guarantee 
to many employers of such talent as to the fitness of the holder 
for the position. 

Business men no longer decry theoretical education, and 
where the theoretical and practical are combined as in a techni- 
cal school, the majority of the students are found to be well 
equipped, not only to earn their living, but to improve the 
industries in which they are engaged. 

Look at the effect of education on invention. It will be 
found that many of the most successful inventors of the present 
time are scientifically educated men. While it is not expected 
nor pretended that everyone must be technically educated, the 
most advanced industries call for superintendents and foremen 
who have been thus trained, and no one will deny that many of 
our industries have made but little advance in a quarter of 
a century. 

At the last session of the legislature, the Trustees of the 
Technical School endeavored to have the law under which it is 
organized, amended so as to increase its appropriation. The 
measure met with defeat in the Senate. The reasons given 
were, that the Technical School of Newark was a local institu- 
tion and Newark should take care of it ; that the State could not 
afford to give any more money to it, when other localities were 
not able to have such a school. As there are no restrictions 
with reference to the place of residence of a student, and it has 
already been demonstrated that students will attend from other 
localities, the claim that it is a local institution does not hold 
good. As for unfairness to other portions of the State in the 
event of more money being given to the Newark Technical 
School, please notice how the school money of the state is 
apportioned and see if Essex County has not done more than its 
share towards education in other counties. 

The school tax is levied according to the number of pupils, 
the amount being equal to five dollars for each child of school 
age. The total sum being raised is assessed on the counties 
according to the tax ratables, so that a rich county like Essex 
helps a poor county like Cumberland. Ninety per cent of the 



money received from each county is credited back to that 
county, the balance going to the State School fund to help the 
poorer counties. As much as $50,000 per year has been taken 
from Essex, and even now from $7,000 to $10,000 is taken 
annually. 

If the Newark Technical School is permitted to develop on 
the lines laid out, not only will the industries of the State be 
benefited, but workmen themselves will also be benefited. 

This fact was recognized by many of the mill operatives in 
Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts. When the legislature 
of Massachusetts was asked to appropriate $100,000 for the 
Lowell Textile School, it was stated that the petition came not 
only from mill owners, but also from overseers and skilled 
workmen. All recognized the necessity of improving the out- 
put of the mills, and that the manufacture of the coarser and 
cheaper textiles was gradually being removed nearer to the 
place where the raw material was grown. 

To develop the Newark Technical School will require 
money, the amount of which will increase in proportion to its 
development. 

The school has no endowment, and if it had, there is no 
certainty that this would at ail times provide sufficient income 
for its maintenance. The income from invested capital has 
been gradually growing smaller, and many institutions which 
are dependent entirely on income from investments, have 
found their financial support gradually slipping away from 
them, and under the present condition of things it is not pos- 
sible to support an industrial school on tuition fees alone. 

The State must ultimately be looked to, to support all classes 
of schools, if all classes are to succeed. Education is becom- 
ing more costly every year, and those who have sufficient 
interest and breadth of views in the matter should endeavor to 
interest the legislature of the State, to secure from it effective 
and permanent support for the Newark Technical School. 



